In this study I will attempt to
show how we can learn the birth date of Yeshua[1]
from the Bible.[2]
Many have said that Mashiach[3]could not have been born on December 25. While these reasons
may be true, there is a deep mystical reason why the Catholic Church chose this date. We will explain this after we
have determined the Mashiach’s true birth date,
because this is critical to understanding the mystical reason for December 25
as His birth date.

Ok, so when was Yeshua born? To
figure this out, we will need to look at the Tanakh[4]
and begin to understand the way that King David structured the services in the Temple. Our starting point is:

Luqas (Luke) 1:5 In the time of
Herod king of Judea there was a priest named
Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth
was also a descendant of Aaron.

From this we learn that John the Baptist's father was part
of the Levitical priesthood family known as Abijah. Since
Zechariah was a priest, we know
that John was also a priest of the family of Abijah.
Next we learn when Abijah served
during the biblical year:

I
Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 24:1
These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron: The sons of Aaron were Nadab,
Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did,
and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. With the help of Zadok a descendant of Eleazar
and Ahimelech a descendant of Ithamar, David separated them into divisions for
their appointed order of ministering. A larger number of leaders were found among Eleazar's descendants
than among Ithamar's, and they were divided accordingly: sixteen heads of
families from Eleazar's descendants and eight heads of
families from Ithamar's descendants. They divided them impartially by drawing
lots, for there were officials of the sanctuary and
officials of God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar. The scribe
Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the
king and of the officials: Zadok the priest,
Ahimelech son of Abiathar and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites--one
family being taken from Eleazar and then one from
Ithamar. The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to
Jedaiah, The third to Harim, the fourth
to Seorim, The fifth to Malkijah, the sixth
to Mijamin, The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to
Abijah, The ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to
Shecaniah, The eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to
Jakim, The thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, The fifteenth
to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, The nineteenth to Pethahiah,
the twentieth to Jehezkel, The twenty-first to Jakin, the twenty-second
to Gamul, The twenty-third
to Delaiah and the twenty-fourth
to Maaziah. This was their appointed order of
ministering when they entered the temple of HaShem, according to the regulations prescribed for them
by their forefather Aaron, as HaShem, the God of
Israel, had commanded him. As for the rest of the descendants of Levi: from the
sons of Amram: Shubael; from the sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah. As for Rehabiah,
from his sons: Isshiah was the first. From the
Izharites: Shelomoth; from the sons of Shelomoth: Jahath. The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah
the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth. The son of Uzziel: Micah; from the sons of Micah:
Shamir. The brother of Micah: Isshiah; from the sons of Isshiah: Zechariah. The
sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah: Beno. The sons of Merari:
from Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri. From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no
sons. From Kish: the son of Kish: Jerahmeel. And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder
and Jerimoth. These were the Levites, according to their families. They also
cast lots, just as their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, in the presence
of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites. The families of the oldest
brother were treated the same as those of the youngest.

There were twenty-four (24) courses, or families, of priests.
Abijah was the eighth course. King David divided them
and gave them instructions concerning the time they
were to serve. King David did not make up these services or divisions, but rather
HaShem instructed him in the way that He desired.[5]

HaShem's Spirit showed David how
he was to divide the Priests and how they were to
serve:

I Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 28:11-13 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans
for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its
storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the
Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple
of HaShem and all the surrounding rooms, for the
treasuries of the temple of God and for the
treasuries for the dedicated things. He gave him instructions for the divisions
of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of
serving in the temple of HaShem,
as well as for all the articles to be used in its service.

The following verse indicates that the length of service for
each of the twenty-four
courses was seven days in the spring and seven days in the fall:

I Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 9:1-26 All Israel was listed in the genealogies
recorded in the book of the kings of Israel. The people of Judah were taken
captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
Now the first to resettle on their own property in their
own towns were some Israelites, priests, Levites and
temple servants. Those from Judah, from Benjamin, and from Ephraim and Manasseh who lived in Jerusalem were: Uthai son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the
son of Imri, the son of Bani, a descendant of Perez son of Judah. Of the
Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. Of the Zerahites: Jeuel. The
people from Judah numbered 690. Of the Benjamites: Sallu son of Meshullam, the
son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of
Uzzi, the son of Micri; and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the
son of Ibnijah. The people from Benjamin, as listed
in their genealogy, numbered 956. All these men were heads of their families.
Of the priests: Jedaiah; Jehoiarib; Jakin; Azariah
son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth,
the son of Ahitub, the official in charge of the house
of God; Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah; and
Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of
Meshillemith, the son of Immer. The priests, who
were heads of families, numbered 1,760. They were able men, responsible for
ministering in the house of God. Of the Levites:
Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, a Merarite;
Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zicri, the son
of Asaph; Obadiah son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and
Berekiah son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the
Netophathites. The gatekeepers: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman and their
brothers, Shallum their chief Being stationed at the King's Gate on the east, up to the present time.
These were the gatekeepers belonging to the camp of
the Levites. Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and
his fellow gatekeepers from his family (the Korahites) were responsible for
guarding the thresholds of the Tent just as their fathers
had been responsible for guarding the entrance to the dwelling
of HaShem. In earlier times Phinehas son of Eleazar
was in charge of the gatekeepers, and HaShem was with
him. Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the gatekeeper at the entrance to the
Tent of Meeting. Altogether, those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds
numbered 212. They were registered by genealogy in their villages. The
gatekeepers had been assigned to their positions of trust by David and Shmuel
(Samuel) the seer. They and their descendants were in charge of guarding the
gates of the house of HaShem--the house called the
Tent. The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north and south. Their brothers in their
villages had to come from time to time
and share their duties for seven-day periods. But
the four principal gatekeepers, who were Levites, were
entrusted with the responsibility for the rooms and treasuries in the house of God.

The Torah[6]commands the daily sacrifices that
are referred to as 'Tamid' - continuous sacrifices that were offered every day
of every year, one in the early hours of the morning and
another during the mid-afternoon. (According to the Gemara,[7]
the last time the Tamid was offered was on 17th Tammuz in the year 3830 - 70 CE - three
weeks before the Temple was overrun by the Romans and
ruined by fire and demolition. This was during the
siege of Jerusalem and the supply of animals had run
out.) Since the Tamid was an offering on behalf of
all Israel, all Israel, as it were, should be present when it is offered.
However, this is an obvious impossibility. Therefore, the mishna[8]
states that all Israel were divided into twentyfourmishmarot, watches, and each watch was to
serve in the Temple for one
week twice a year. Thus perhaps a better rendition of mishmeret would be 'duty roster'. However, since the number of people was far too large to give everyone a
chance to serve twice a year it was highly likely that any given member of the
roster might get a chance only once in a lifetime to actually serve for one week in the Temple. The
priestly watches were changed every Shabbat after
the Musaf[9]offering, and when they were
changed the corresponding watches of the levites and the Israelites would also
change.

II Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles) 23:1-8 In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his
strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of
units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah
son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. They went
throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the
heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem, The whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple
of God. Jehoiada said to them, "The king's son shall reign, as HaShem promised concerning the descendants of David. Now
this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, A third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the other men are
to be in the courtyards of the temple of HaShem. No one is to enter the temple of HaShem except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because
they are consecrated, but all the other men are to guard what HaShem has assigned to them. The Levites are to station
themselves around the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who enters the temple
must be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes." The
Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest
ordered. Each one took his men--those who were going on
duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off
duty--for Jehoiada the priest had not released any
of the divisions.

The priests were divided into twenty-four watches, each watch
taking a week of service at the Temple. During a
watch's week the priests of that watch kept all of
the sacrifices.However, during
pilgrimage festivals all twenty-four watches equally divided the sacrifices that were
offered on account of the festival.

In addition to their normal service, the Priests, all twenty-four courses, served for three
extra weeks during the year:17

A biblical year consists of twelve
lunar months, of 29.5 days, which total 354 days. This is eleven
days less than a solar year, of 365 days. This means that we have to cover twenty-four more weeks. Thus we
can deduce that each course served a week at the beginning of the year, and a
week at the end of the year. The Mishna agrees with
this conclusion.[10]

(The number of days that differ
from a lunar and a solar calendar, are made up by
adding a leap month every two or three
years. I do not yet know how the priests
served these extra days.)

Each course, therefore, served for one
week twice a year, and three weeks a year they all
served. Each course, therefore, served a total of five
weeks during the year.

Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist AFTER Zechariah had
finished his Temple service. So, she would have
become pregnant after the thirdSabbath
of Sivan (approximately Sivan
19-25):

Luqas (Luke) 1:23 When his time of
service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant
and for five months remained in seclusion.

If you go forward forty weeks, for
a normal pregnancy, we see that John the Baptist was born on Passover. We would expect that this pregnancy would be
perfectly normal because this is the mark of HaShem's
handiwork, perfection!

It is interesting that John the Baptist was born on Passover, because one of the
rituals of the Passover is to set a special place
setting, for Elijah, and to open the door to welcome Elijah. Mashiach said that John the Baptist was the Elijah who
was to come!

Matityahu (Matthew) 11:7-15 As John’s disciples were leaving, Yeshua began to speak to the
crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed
swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine
clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did
you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is
the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my
messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you the
truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John
the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of
heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful
men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied
until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to
come. He who has ears, let him hear.

Luqas (Luke) 1:23-33 When his time of
service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became
pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.
"The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has
shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." In
(Elizabeth's) sixth month (of pregnancy), God sent the angelGabriel to Nazareth, a
town in Galilee, To a young woman pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's
name was Mary. The angel went
to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with
you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of
greeting this might be. But the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with
child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the nameYeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;
his kingdom will never end."

Luqas (Luke) 2:4-11 So Joseph also
went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to
the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was
pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there,
the time came for the baby to be born, And she gave
birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a
manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds
living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the
Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel
said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to you; he is Mashiach
the Lord.

And ...

Matityahu (Matthew) 2:7-12 Then Herod called the Magi[16] secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He
sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make
a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that
I too may go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on
their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place
where the child was. When they saw the star, they
were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the
child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they
opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their
country by another route.

Now that we have all of
our dates, let’s arrange them so that we can understand the chronology:

If each course served for a week in the spring and a week in
the fall, how do we know that Yeshua
was not born at Passover?

There are two ways to understand the
answer. If we started our count during the eighth week
of the fall term, then John the Baptist would be born at Succoth
and we would not have the connection with Elijah
at Passover. In addition, we would not have the connection of Yeshua being
conceived at Chanukah.

That said, it is still possible that Yeshua
was born at Passover. This does not present an
insurmountable problems because of the bi-modality of the year. The triennial Torah reading cycle
also suggests that in many ways Passover and Succoth are alike.

* * *

Ok, Yeshua was born on the festival of Succoth. So,
when is Succoth? I am glad you asked that question.
The following dates detail when we celebrate Succoth
for the next few years:

This Torah portion recounts the time
of the covenant between the parts, and when Abraham was promised a son.

The Context

The birth of Mashiach did not happen as an independent event. It happened in time and
within the context of world history which had been
carefully prepared for this event. To begin to
understand the context of His birth, I recommend that you examine other events that occurred at the time
of His conception and birth. His birth was no accident. It is important to see Mashiach’s birth within the context of Succoth. In fact, I would suggest that it is impossible
to understand the birth of Mashiach
without celebrating Succoth. Further, we must see Succoth within the context of all the festivals in a year. This context will reveal some
very interesting perspectives.

Why was December 25th chosen by the Catholic church for the birth of Yeshua? There are two answers to
this question. The first answer is the answer most
commonly given. The second answer is a Jewish
mystical answer that is almost never given.

The reason why the Catholic church
chose December 25, has to do with the pagan festival
of Saturnalia. I am not going to give
the details about this festival, but it is
instructive to note that most of the current customs of Christmas are borrowed
from the celebration of Saturnalia. This reason is quite well known and is documented in many sources.

Those who have studied the Torah
have understood a far deeper and more interesting mystical reason as to why the birth of the Mashiach
was assigned to December 25. To understand this reason we will need to review a
bit of Latin.

What is the meaning
of September? In Latin, septem
means seven
and septimus means seventh; September was in fact the seventh
month of the Jewish, or Biblical calendar. This calendar
was in use by the whole world for most of the world’s existence. In 153 BC, the Romans reordered the calendar but kept some of the names that provided a
hint as to its earlier origins. Remember that the Torah originally used numbers for the names of the months rather than actual
names. The names in the current Jewishcalendar were taken from Babylon
by Chazal, our Sages, to provide us with a remembrance of our exile. In days to come, the numbered months will be
restored by Mashiach.

What is the meaning of October?
In Latin, octo means eight, reflecting the fact that October was the eighth month of the year.

What is the meaning of November?
In Latin, novem means nine. November was the ninth
month of the year.

What is the meaning of December? In Latin, decem means ten. December was
the tenth month of the year.

Now that we have
had our Latin lesson we can understand that December 25 can be understood as
the twenty-fifth day of the
tenth month. In fact, this is the terminology of the Torah. Now if we switch
our brains from the Roman calendar to the Jewishcalendar, we can
relate to the fact that the twenty-fifth
day of the tenth month is an allusion to Chanukah,
which began on the twenty-fifth
day and ended in the tenth month (Kislev 25 through
Tevet 1 / 2). Recall that Chanukah was when Yeshua was conceived.

HaShem gave the Gentiles a
hint that they could easily understand. He was hinting to Chanukah. To make the message even clearer, He gave
the Gentiles the custom of decorating their Christmas
trees, and homes, with lights. What do lights have to do with Christmas? Well,
lets see; there was the star… Hmmm. Ok, so, what do
lights have to do with Chanukah? I am glad you
asked! Chanukah is also known
as the Feast of Lights because of the miracle of the
lights of the menorah in the Temple. Remember that
the Maccabees had only enough pure oil to last for one
day. Yet, when they kindled this one cruse of oil it
burned for eight days! We celebrate this miracle by
kindling a progression of oil lights in our homes for the eight
days of Chanukah. Thus we see that the lights of the
Gentiles point to Chanukah.

Some may say that
Yeshua was The Light of the World;
quoting from John 8:12 or John 9:5. They thus suggest that the Mashiach’s birth is a cause for the lights. What is
really interesting about this argument is the fact that when Yeshua proclaimed that He was the light of the world, it was during Succoth.
During Succoth, four huge
lamps were set up in the courtyard of the women. The Talmud[18] says that there was not a courtyard in
all of Jerusalem that was not illuminated by these
lamps. The wicks were made from the worn-out priestly garments. Yeshua proclaimed Himself to be the light of the world while the people were gazing at the four lights which were called the light of the world. This quote, then, is
not as fitting for Christmas as it is for Succoth,
the day of Mashiach’s birth.

To further
strengthen the connection of December 25 to Chanukah, it is useful to note that the Christmas holiday is celebrated by many from December 25 through
January 1. This, too, is an eight day period which
corresponds to the eight days of Chanukah.

Now, you know the real reason why December 25th was
chosen as the date of the Mashiach’s birth. Even
though it is NOT when the Mashiach was born, it
contains enough hints that the discerning student could use to find his way
away from Christmas. It contained all the hints needed to cause him to
celebrate Succoth and Chanukah
as being HaShem’s dates, rather than celebrating
man’s made up date of December 25. (For more insights
on the festival of lights and Christmas, please see
my study titled: Lights.)

Finally, it is
worth nothing that Yeshua never celebrated Christmas.
He never put up a Christmas tree. He never went to midnight mass or any Protestant
service on Christmas.

Yochanan (John) 7:1 After these things Yeshua walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judaea, because the Jews
sought to kill him. 2Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles (Succoth) was at hand.
3His brethren therefore said unto him,
Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works
that thou doest. 4For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known
openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
5For neither did his brethren believe
in him. 6Then Jesus
said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth,
because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet
unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.
9When he had said these words unto
them, he abode still in
Galilee. 10But when his brethren were
gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

Hakham Shaul (the Apostle Paul) then made the comment that
should weigh heavily on all those who do not celebrate Succoth
and Chanukah:

1
Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Mashiach.

[2]
I learned many aspects of this study from Joseph Good in his book: Rosh
HaShannah and the Messianic
Kingdom to Come.

[3]I am using Mashiach without further qualification, to apply to
Mashiach ben Joseph, which is not the normal Jewish way. The normal Jewish way
is to that an ‘mashiach’ without qualification always applies to Mashiach ben
David only. See Rambam’s Hilchot Melachim.

[4]Tanakh (Hebrew: תנ׳ך‎)
(also Tanach, IPA: [ta’nax] or [tə’nax], Tenakh or Tenak) is an acronym
that identifies the Hebrew Bible. The acronym is formed from the initial Hebrew
letters of the Tanakh's three traditional subdivisions:

Torah (תורה), meaning
"teaching" or "law", includes the Five Books of Moses. The Torah is also known by its Greek
name, "the Pentateuch", which similarly means "five
scrolls".

Nevi'im (נביאים),
meaning "Prophets". The Nevi'im are often divided into the Earlier
Prophets, which are generally historical, and the Later Prophets, which contain
more exhortational prophecies.

Ketuvim (כתובים),
meaning "Writings", are sometimes also known by the Greek title
"Hagiographa". These encompass all the remaining books, and include
the Five Scrolls.

[5]
This is in contrast to the way Catholics and Protestants make up their
services.